Tony Scott, director of ‘Top Gun,’ commits suicide

K. Thor Jensen Contributing Writer, Entertainment

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We didn’t deserve him. Sad and inexplicable news out of Hollywood as director Tony Scott has been found dead, the result of a suicidal jump from Los Angeles’s Vincent Thomas Bridge. Scott, brother of equally famous director Ridley Scott, leaped from the bridge at 12:30 PM on Sunday, leaving behind a suicide note in his Prius, which was parked in one of the bridge’s eastbound lanes. The contents of that note have not been released by police. His body was found four hours later and officially pronounced dead.

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Born in North Shields, England, Tony Scott made movies with his older brother Ridley from a young age. He went to college to become a painter but, after graduation, accepted a job at Ridley’s television commercial production studio, RSA, where he honed his directing chops on thousands of commercials. He made his Hollywood debut with The Hunger, a stylish vampire drama with heavy lesbian undertones. It was a flop, but producers Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer were fans and gave Tony the opportunity to direct Top Gun. The fighter pilot drama became one of the most iconic movies of the 80s and made Tom Cruise a star.

In the latter half of his career, Tony Scott would begin a working relationship with Denzel Washington, collaborating with him on Man On Fire, The Taking Of Pelham 123 and Unstoppable, which would turn out to be Scott’s final film. He also co-produced a number of movies and TV shows with his brother, including the A-Team remake.

Scott had most recently been attached to Nemesis, a project from Kick-Ass creator Mark Millar about a Batman-esque superhero who uses his vast resources for evil, not good. The status of that film is unknown.

This is a tremendous tragedy.